


Rain Falls

by griefiary



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Established Relationship, Jason Todd Lives, Jason Todd is Robin, Kyle Rayner is Green Lantern, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griefiary/pseuds/griefiary
Summary: In a world where the second Boy Wonder's wings are never clipped, and he breathes to see his sweet sixteenth, he leads his own generation of teenage superheroes, like Nightwing before him. And amongst them, the bird finds his heart.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson (background), Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd
Comments: 6
Kudos: 118





	Rain Falls

Robin clings to the rooftop of the old Wentworth building opposite the Gotham Russian Ballet, feeling the way the rain falls softly on the exposed skin of his cheeks, thunder rolling low and in the far distance. The cord by which he’s clinging onto for dear life digs into his suit, and he inhales, sharply. A single twitch, a misplaced step, and he risks staining the asphalt red with his blood. Thrill thrums though him, and he can’t help but let a laugh tear itself from his lungs. The Boy Wonder grips the head of the gargoyle overhead him, grip firm, and clambers to crawl around it. 

He’d slipped. 

Above him, he hears the rumbling of the clouds grow with Zeus’ ire, and he eases back against the gothic tiles of the roof that the Wentworths originally designed their behemoth of a tower with. Robin always had a preference, passing by in Old Gotham and placing it as a marker on his solo patrols. Sometimes, he just likes to linger around the gargoyle he’s fondly named 𝘖𝘻𝘺𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘴 - Ozzy for short. A light chuckle lodges in his chest, his eyes glance towards the skyline of Gotham. The street lights melt into hues of reds, oranges, and yellows. Farther even, Robin watches as he catches a weak flicker of green against the horizon.

He pulls tighter against the cord, it straining against his force. A smile, thin with a little too much mischief, etches onto his features. Robin shifts his weight, turns to face the skyline again, feels the way the rain now drenches him, soaking him and leaving his hair to stick to his forehead. He inhales once, twice, looks down towards the plaza below him, and lets go. 

His weight tips forward, the cord immediately rushes back to its holster in the gauntlets of Robin’s suit. Then he plummets, feels the wind whip against his hair and his cape, gravity draws him closer, and closer, and closer towards the cold stone of the streets below. ‘𝘛𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘳, 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭.’ Except, he never feels the impact. Robin feels himself engulfed by warmth, opens his eyes again to see a fading green light. Looks up, finds himself in Green Lantern’s arms. He grins, shifts in the other’s grasp. “Catch you at a bad time?”, he asks, almost as though he’d been itching to use that pun. 

“Funny,” Robin doesn’t laugh, rolls his eyes beneath the whites of his mask, but can’t help the way his lips tilt upward, “You should get a special or something, could be Gotham’s next big comedian.” 

Green Lantern shakes his head, floats the two of them down onto the Ballet’s building. “Yeah, no, pretty sure 𝘺𝘰𝘶-𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸-𝘸𝘩𝘰 would like, kidnap me or something.” Robin shuffles out of his arms, lands against the building softly. 

“Gee, GL, he’s not 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵, you can say his name, you know.” The Boy Wonder turns, folds his arms over his chest, “I’ll do it for you; ‘Joker’. And he’s not funny.” 

“You were being sarcastic,” Green Lantern says it like it’s some sort of revelation, only a tinge of offense bleeding into his tone. He holds his ring up, forming an umbrella of green light over them.

Robin only shakes his head in turn, lets his hand rest against the other’s shoulder. Then, he looks around, eyes dragging over the surrounding buildings like he’s looking out for an unwanted audience - Bat or other. Satisfied, he reaches up to plant a quick kiss to the Lantern’s cheek, pulling himself away just as quickly. His expression is equal parts smug as it is bashful, seeing the way red dusts over Kyle’s - rather - Green Lantern’s features. Robin fumbles for a moment, before regaining his composure. “Right, nice save, thanks for that.” 

“Yeah, what you were doing up there anyway?” The Lantern asks, biting the side of his cheek. 

The shorter shoots him a glare, softens his expression, and sighs in defeat, “Almost slipped and fell to an early grave, climbed to safety, saw you, then let go.” He shrugs, looking up to see the way the droplets fall onto the green cascade of light. He doesn’t notice the way his nose wrinkles, as it usually does when he’s confused, upset, or plain focused. Light shouldn’t be able to do that, he thinks to himself, it just shouldn’t be possible. He exhales again, louder this time, zones back in, shakes his head, and laughs again. “So why are 𝘺𝘰𝘶 here? It’s not like The Team has a mission here,” Robin pauses for a moment, eyes scanning over his teammate, his voice drops with the request for clarification, “Right?” 

For a moment, the Lantern looks offended again, placing his hand on his chest and faux gasping. Then, he casts his own gaze downward, shuffles where he stands, “Why, I can’t stop by to check in on our fearless leader?” 

He can feel his lips pull in a thin, bloodless line, and he snorts, “Never said that, West Coast.” Quiet settles over the two of them, and it’s Robin that reaches over to the other, grasping his hand within his own, “Just another week.” - It sounds like a promise. - “Then Batman’ll be back, and I can go back to the team.”

𝘛𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 goes completely unsaid, but with the way Robin squeezes his hand, there’s no room for doubt in either of their hearts. The painter’s & the poet’s hearts both beat in the obscured, no words between them need to be shared to express the ever growing warmth between them. Not after that first night on a different rooftop, engulfed in the light of the moon. Robin doesn’t realize that he’s been leaning closer, until he feels soft lips against his own. His eyes flutter shut for a quick moment, wraps his arms around the Lantern’s waist, standing on the tips of his toes. Doesn’t mind when the umbrella dips to the side, when rain briefly claims them again. 

It’s then that, as though on cue, the comm in Robin’s right ear crackles to life. “Okay loverbird, your 15 minutes are up. You still need to circle back to the Bowery and the port district before your patrol is over.” Oracle’s voice is stern, but there’s a slight edge in it that might hint at amusement. Robin groans, pulls away, to which Green glances at him in concern.  
He points to his ear, offering an apologetic look. Green nods, understanding, mouths a rushed ‘I get it’. He squeezes his hand one last time before he’s peeling himself away from him. The light construct fades then, as his ‘teammate’ slowly starts to float off the ground again. They hold hands until they physically can no longer, and the Lantern offers the bird one last smile before he takes off for the storm clouds again. 

Robin watches for a few moments, warmth still blooming in his chest. Then, he hears Oracle speak up again, “Oh, young love.” He wouldn’t even try to deny it, because the way she says it, her tone - she already knew. Of course she did, she knows everything. She’s Oracle. He reaches for his grapple again, aims for a skyscraper that looms over the plaza, and feels himself being dragged through the air. 

He chews at his lip, darting across the rooftops of Old Gotham, heart jackhammering against his rib cage, instincts edging for a fight. Begging usually wouldn’t be his thing - but there’s a reason that in the months that he and the Lantern have been more than just teammates, they’d both been quiet about it. “𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 don’t tell B,” he says, with as much sincerity he can muster while dropping into an alley, landing with a harsh ‘oof’. 

“About that,” it’s Nightwing’s voice this time, though not over the comms. Robin’s head snaps up, and there, on the fire escape, cool as ever, sits an older birdie with an all too knowing grin on his lips. Something fierce shoots through his spine, his jaw goes wide in shock and embarrassment, a flush rising. 

“He 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴?” Robin almost stammers, dumbfounded, as Nightwing lands besides him, “And you what? You 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 him?” Nightwing shakes his head, claps his hand on his shoulder. He can’t believe that he hears Oracle actually snort on the line. 

Nightwing pulls his lips back to reveal his teeth, cringing, “Well, no. The two of you haven’t really mastered that whole 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 thing yet.” And immediately, Nightwing holds both of his hands up defensively, “And to be fair! You aren’t exactly subtle as a civvie either!” 

Robin lets his head drop into his hands, groaning. Yeah. Okay. He had JULY 6TH circled in big red permanent marker on his calendar - the copic marker set he’d bought a few weeks ago practically screamed ‘THIS IS A BIRTHDAY PRESENT’. A little pricey too, considering Robin had no interest in anything art related - until now. Well 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬. “Can we please just,” He pauses, swallows thickly, “Can we please just get this patrol over with?” 

His older brother laughs, light and hearty, “Sure thing, Little Wing.” He’s letting him off the hook - for now. But he knows that Nightwing is going to want to talk about it - Robin was seeing a 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯. 

The birds soar through Gotham’s streets, continuing their patrol. Robin thanks an otherwise indifferent universe, that for the rest of the night, Nightwing seems a little too preoccupied with Oracle to tease him about his own budding relationship. 

For the most part, anyway. Nightwing still nudges him every so often, reminding him to keep his head in the game. Robin’s thoughts wander to soft hoodies and Friday movie nights regardless, an ache in his chest he doesn't entirely mind. One more week. One more week until he returns to his team; to his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr under "griefiary"! :)


End file.
